THE LANDS OF GIANTS & LEGENDS
The sharp angular cliffs of Hirta on the isolated St Kilda archipelago were now getting too close for comfort. We needed to tack our 1973 Nicholson 32, Blue Venturer, to get into Village Bay but we were struggling to turn her in the heavy swell and the waves. The steering had also become unusually heavy and sluggish. A check of the windvane soon confirmed the problem: the rudder was jammed. My partner Alison took my spot on deck as I clipped on to the push pit and climbed over the transom, a good bucketful of Scotland’s notorious icy waters hitting me square in the face. Crouching at the bottom of the transom ladder I managed to reach underwater to the rudder and detach it, pulling it back aboard via the lanyard.
The relief as we motored into Village Bay and dropped anchor close inshore was palpable. Exhausted, we put the kettle on. Our sons, Reuben, 9, and Donald, 7,
